A massive fire gutted a police building that stored documents in Sathon district yesterday. No casualties were reported.
More than 50 fire trucks and firemen were deployed to the building of the Metropolitan Police Division 5 on Sathon Road in the Thung Mahamek area to control the blaze, which broke out about 4am.
Flames spread quickly over the three-storey building. Loud noises that sounded like explosions were heard constantly, as roads within a kilometre radius of the building were closed off by police.
Firefighters took over an hour to bring the blaze under control. Nobody was inside at the time. Seven cars parked near the fire-ravaged building were damaged.
Bangkok governor Chadchart Sittipunt rushed to the scene as he was about to start a morning workout routine.
Mr Chadchart said a police officer guarding the building heard a loud sound like an electric short circuit from the first floor and saw a pile of documents on fire. The officer alerted the firemen after failing to douse the flames with a fire extinguisher, said the governor.
Metropolitan Police Bureau commissioner Pol Lt Gen Thiti Saengsawang said the fire started on the first floor and quickly engulfed the second and third floors, causing its roof to collapse. The entire building was badly damaged.
The building stored documents, and officers would check whether documents of important cases were kept there, said the city police chief. A panel will be set up to investigate the cause.